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[[Image:sandwich.jpg|right|250px|thumb|A club sandwich, quartered and laid on edge for an attractive presentation]]

[[Image:sandwich.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Club sandwich]]

A '''sandwich''' in the strictest sense is the name given to a popular food item consisting of one or more fillings (such as [[meat]], [[cheese]], or vegetables) placed between two slices of [[bread]].  The beauty of the sandwich is that it is not only portable - it can be taken and consumed anywhere, from the table to the car to the work place - but the possibilities for fillings are almost endless, with the bread keeping the mess contained.

A '''sandwich''' in the strictest sense is the name given to a popular food item consisting of one or more fillings (such as [[meat]], [[cheese]], or vegetables) placed between two slices of [[bread]]<ref>https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sandwich</ref>.  The beauty of the sandwich is that it is not only portable - it can be taken and consumed anywhere, from the table to the car to the work place - but the possibilities for fillings are almost endless, with the bread keeping the mess contained.

==History==

==History==

Bread is among mankind's oldest prepared foods, and doubtless it was combined with meats, stews, or other foods among many peoples and cultures worldwide, including as a means of containing and holding the other items.  It is known that the ''pita'' - a type of bread with origins in the Middle East - had then as now an ability to form a pocket when baked, which would be filled with meat, vegetables, and sauces to suit the consumer.  In pre-Columbian Mexico the ''tortilla'' was the staple bread, and often wrapped around other added ingredients.

Bread is among mankind's oldest prepared foods, and doubtless it was combined with meats, stews, or other foods among many peoples and cultures worldwide, including as a means of containing and holding the other items.  It is known that the ''pita'' - a type of bread with origins in the Middle East - had then as now an ability to form a pocket when baked, which would be filled with meat, vegetables, and sauces to suit the consumer.  In pre-Columbian Mexico the ''tortilla'' was the staple bread, and often wrapped around other added ingredients.

The name "sandwich" came into vogue for this portable food during the 18th century, when [[John Montagu]], a aristocratic British national and supposedly a very passionate card player who, according to the tradition, did not have time to eat after an hours-long game.  Rather than get his cards greasy, Montagu had put a slice of salted beef between two bread slices, on which fellow players also requested "to have the same as Sandwich",<ref>https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-18010424</ref> in reference to Montagu's title as the 4th Earl of Sandwich.  In 1765 a biographer of Montagu's rejected the gaming description and declared that it was much more likely that he had invented the sandwich in order not to interrupt his work at the desk.

The historian Edward Gibbon, best known for his monumental ''Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', kept a journal of his life, and wrote down the oldest written reference to food described as a sandwich during a gentlemen's social club for the evening of November 24, 1762:

:''"I dined at the Cocoa Tree with Holt... that respectable body, of which I have the honor of being a member, affords every evening a sight truly English.  Twenty or thirty, perhaps, of the first men in the kingdom, in point of fashion and fortune, supping at little tables covered with a napkin, in the middle of a coffee-room, upon a bit of cold meat, or a sandwich, and drinking a glass of punch."''<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=B_8TAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA167&lpg=PA167&dq=edward+gibbon+journal+nov+24+1762&source=bl&ots=_tXg6ZbzLl&sig=ACfU3U2h6-rAWcK2E1tuYZOSY4xzPorrvA&hl=en&ppis=_e&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwikm820pvfmAhXpg-AKHWDODhoQ6AEwFXoECA4QAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false</ref>

Sandwiches are mentioned in the English literature from about 1760 onwards, initially as a snack at nightly men's societies.  In the 19th century the sandwich became a popular intermediate meal, especially during tea. Moreover, it was in any case a typical English picnic and was considered the best food for rail travel, and still often offered on trains and on airplanes today. In response to the abstinence movement in England, local people began to serve a sandwich free of charge instead of alcoholic beverages to attract customers. One variation is the American Club Sandwich, which was offered to members in private clubs as a snack.

 

 

Sandwiches are mentioned in the English literature from about 1762 onward, initially as a snack at nightly men's societies.  In the 19th century the sandwich became a popular intermediate meal, especially during tea. Moreover, it was in any case a typical English picnic and was considered the best food for rail travel, and still often offered on trains and on airplanes today. In the late 19th century it appeared cut and quartered in social gatherings and private clubs as small snack items; Italian immigrants would bring with them the concept that it was the perfect "working man's lunch" due to its size and portability, an idea which would quickly catch on and spread.  And during the 20th century, the sandwich would spread world-wide and be sold by the billions, under such names as Subway, McDonald's, White Castle, Geno's, and many others.

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